NHL Legend Phil Kessel Scored His 400th Goal In His Record-Breaking 990th Straight Game
Phil Kessel just might be the most interesting man in the NHL. The enigmatic sniper is typically shy with the media but is said to be a real cut-up in the room. He guzzles soda like a teenager but is still fast as hell. He's also a beloved teammate and every time we bring his name up in a Spittin' Chiclets interview, a broad smile comes across the interviewee's face. Then he regales us with hilarious stories about the Thrill. To wit...
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The stories are 54% funnier with the Phil impressions.
Phil Kessel is also one hell of a durable hockey player. And Tuesday night in San Jose, he made history two times.
When Kessel took his first shift, he passed Keith Yandle and set a new NHL Iron Man record by playing in his 990th consecutive game. It's insane that an NHL player can answer the bell that many times in a row given all the bumps, bruises, and breaks they all deal with during an average season. But Phil Kessel is no ordinary man.
He's played in every single regular season game, spread across four teams, since November 3, 2009; that's 4757 days and more than twelve seasons. Then later in the first period, he made some more history.
Kessel became the 13th American to score 400 NHL goals when he blew past Matt Benning then went upstairs on James Reimer (he needs just 17 more goals to crack the top 10). The fact that he reached this milestone while setting the new Iron Man record is good shit and impressive as hell. I wouldn't be surprised if he hits 1100 games.
Phil Kessel = Legend